Una Delegación Sobre las Causas de la Migración

por James Hutter

James Hutter

En julio de 2013 tuve el privilegio de participar en una de las delegaciones de Acción Permanente por la Paz en México, para estudiar las causas de la migración. Uso la palabra "privilegio" con cautela, porque entiendo el peso de lo que significa. A lo largo de todo este viaje, pude entender los planes económicos de los "países privilegiados", como los Estados Unidos y Canadá, quienes han provocado efectos que han llegado hasta el último rincón de México. Es evidente que los ciudadanos "privilegiados" de estos países desconocen casi en su totalidad el efecto de las políticas económicas de sus gobiernos que favorecen principalmente a las empresas transnacionales han dejando a su paso un sinfín de problemas para América Latina. Es triste saber que yo era uno de tantos cuidadanos que desconocia esta situación.

El propósito de la delegación fue visitar algunas zonas que son directamente afectadas por la migración, escuchar las historias de por qué dicho fenómeno está ocurriendo, y lograr una mejor comprensión de los impactos – mayoritariamente negativos – de las políticas gubernamentales en la vida de la gente común. En algunos de los casos que conocimos, los migrantes se iban de los pueblos rurales donde habían crecido y dirigiéndose a los Estados Unidos en busca de mejores oportunidades. En otros casos, la gente huía de manera desesperada de una guerra civil y el derramamiento de sangre con el afán de encontrar seguridad y protección.

Migrantes en"La Bestia",donde enfrentan
 no solo los peligros de subir el tren, sino
también secuestros, violaciones, extorsion y violencia.

Durante una de las presentaciones, nos contaron sobre algunos de los horrores que enfrentan los migrantes cuando se viajan a los Estados Unidos desde América Central a través de México. Fue un momento conmovedor. Me dí cuenta de que las condiciones en algunas de estas regiones deben ser verdaderamente terribles y a la gente simplemente no le queda ni un pingo de esperanza si está dispuesta a emprender un viaje tan peligroso.

Otras visitas durante la delegación nos expusieron a historias muy angustiantes compartieron con nosotros por los más afectados por la migración: La fractura de las familias, los encarcelamientos , familiares desaparecidos que se suponen muertos.

Sin embargo, algunas personas estaban luchando contra estas políticas perjudiciales con éxito, usando las mismas leyes y los mismos conceptos que habían creado muchas de estas situaciones económicas. Nombraron el empuje personal y el desarrollo económico como sus armas en contra de la migración de su ciudad y la posible explotación por empresas extranjeras.

Después de viajar con la delegación, mi objetivo es compartir algunas de las historias y los encuentros que experimente con quien quisiera escucharlos. Mi único deseo es que los que leen estas publicaciones se las tenga en cuenta cuando se habla y se debate sobre la inmigración o la política gubernamental.

El debate sobre la Reforma Migratória sigue sin que se aprobara ninguna ley.

A "Roots of Migration" Delegation

by James Hutter

james.hutter@gmail.com

Witness for Peace – Roots of Migration Delegation

James Hutter

         In July of 2013, I was privileged to be included on a Witness for Peace Delegation to Mexico to study the Roots of Migration. I use the word “privilege” with a strong sense of reservation, particularly after now understanding the power behind the term. Throughout the entire trip, it was clear that the economic plans of “privileged countries,” namely the United States and Canada, have far-reaching effects. Additionally, it became clear that the “privileged” citizens of these countries had almost no knowledge of how the laws of governments and the revenue growth policies of corporations have led to extensive problems in Latin America. Sadly, it also became painfully clear that I was one of the privileged citizens that had close to zero knowledge about what was happening to a huge portion of Mexican citizens and others throughout Central America.

The purpose of the Roots of Migration Delegation was to visit areas that were being directly influenced by migration, hear stories of why it was occurring, and to garner a better understanding of the extensive, mostly negative, impact of governmental policies on the lives of ordinary people. In some of the cases that we encountered, migrants were leaving the rural towns that they had been raised in and were traveling to the United States for better opportunities. In other instances, people were desperately fleeing civil war and bloodshed in the hopes of finding safety and security.

Migrants riding on "La Bestia" ("The Beast"),
where they not only face the dangers of
the train itself, but kidnappings,
rape, extortion, and violence. 

During one stop, we were told some of the horrors that migrants face when traveling to the United States through Mexico from Central America. That was a poignant moment. I realized that conditions in some of these regions must be truly terrible and people simply had no hope left if they were willing to undertake the perilous journey.

Other stops on the Delegation exposed us to very distressing stories shared with us by those most impacted by migration: The fracturing of families... Incarcerations... Missing relatives presumed to be dead.

Yet, some areas were successfully fighting these detrimental policies using the same laws and concepts that had created many of these economic issues. They touted enterprise and self economic development as their weapons against migration from their city and potential exploitation by foreign corporations.

After traveling with the Delegation, my goal was to share some of the stories and encounters that I had experienced with whomever would listen. My only wish is that those who read these postings will take them into account when talking about and debating immigration or governmental policy.

The debate around Comprehensive Immigration Reform continues.

Francisco Cerezo Reflects on his Speaker's Tour of the Upper Midwest

This October, Witness for Peace Upper Midwest hosted Mexican human rights defender Francisco Cerezo of Comité Cerezo México for a Speaker’s Tour throughout the region. In numerous universities, churches, and community groups throughout Minnesota, Wisconsin, Iowa, Kansas and Missouri, Francisco spoke to over 2,500 people about the effects of U.S. Policy in Mexico.

Francisco presenting to "Advocates for Human Rights" in Minneapolis, Minnesota

He helped the U.S. public understand the difference between the rhetoric around the “Drug War” and the reality of the “Drug War,” focusing special attention on the Mérida Initiative. This 1.6 billion dollar package, the great majority of which comes in the form of military equipment, arms, and training, has had devastating effects on the Mexican people. Besides a major increase in human rights violations by the Army, Federal Police and Navy, it’s resulted in more than 60,000 dead (most of whom had nothing to do with drugs or drug trafficking), 25,000 disappeared, and 150,000 displaced. As Mr. Cerezo pointed out, these are official figures from the Mexican government, and many human rights organizations put the numbers much higher. Below are Francisco’s reflections after his tireless and fruitful tour.

“A work tour of  the Upper Midwest, USA”

The first thing that surprised me in the United States was the influence of the Spanish language in all areas of U.S. life, including the bottle of hot sauce next to the mustard and ketchup in fast food restaurants and diners. This is a significant sign of a Latin American - particularly Mexican - influence. The last time I was in the states was 15 years ago, when things were different and Spanish was restricted to Mexican and Latino immigrant circles.

In terms of the work, I could relate to the Witness for Peace Upper Midwest coordinator, because her work is very similar to ours. She too counts on volunteers who supplement the work and logistical needs of the organization, and maintains and cultivates new contacts with many people who are sensitive to social problems, in this case, in Mexico.

It didn’t surprise me to see that the mass media in the U.S. doesn’t effectively report on the problems of other countries, and even social problems within the U.S. It’s not that this media phenomenon doesn’t exist in Mexico, but it’s not quite as severe, and there are more critical alternatives to mass media that provide a more balanced assessment of what’s happening in Mexico.

One of the several community radio stations (alternatives to the "mass media") Francisco spoke on. This one, WORT, is located in Madison, Wisconsin.

In most of the places where we spoke about the Merida Initiative and its impact on Mexico, nobody knew anything about this military aid program to the Mexican government. In the same way, the discussion of corruption as one of Mexico’s fundamental problems is very prevalent, to the point where it seems that if you’re not American, you’re automatically part of this phenomenon.

If nothing else, our presentation made people ask themselves why their taxpayer money is used to generate so much violence in Mexico, when it’s supposed to do the opposite. We believe that this is a fundamental question that makes many people reflect and brings people closer to Witness for Peace Upper Midwest’s work.  

Francisco Cerezo and Witness for Peace Upper Midwest Regional
Organizer Elise Roberts with Congressman Keith Ellison, after a meeting with him.

Although covering more than 3,000 kilometers (1900 miles) and five states was quite tiring, it was also enriching to talk with so many people interested in the subject. It would have been impossible for Comite Cerezo Mexico to get its message out were it not for the solidarity and fraternal support of so many people, and of Witness for Peace.

Francisco presents to yet another group of university students and staff.

We thank all those who lent us their helping hands, andthose who shared their tables and homes so that we could restore our energy and continue our tour throughout the beautiful Upper Midwest region. There were unforgettable people, from Duluth to Minneapolis, from Milwaukee to Iowa, and many other cities and communities all the way to Kansas City. It was a tour in which we learned a lot about solidarity in this region of the U.S.

Duluth, Minnesota - located on Lake Superior -
one of the many cities that welcomed is with open arms.

To reiterate something that I stated when we were leaving Mexico for the tour, solidarity is a fundamental principle that breaks through all barriers and beliefs, and that goes beyond language and cultural idiosyncrasies and unites us in our dream of a peaceful, just and dignified world.

Warmly and thankfully,

Francisco Cerezo
Coordinator, Comite Cerezo Mexico

Live from the Caravan for Peace: Mexican Drug War Victims Travel The US and Call for Policy Change

By Alissa Escarce, former Witness for Peace Delegate

Maria Trujillo Herrera  from Mexico gives testimony
about her four disappeared sons

For the past two weeks two white buses, each emblazoned with red block letters spelling “Caravan for Peace,“ have been rolling through the Southwestern desert.  This Caravan, the latest from Mexico’s Movement for Peace with Justice and Dignity, is led by Javier Sicilia, “el poeta,” who left literature for activism following his son’s murder at the hands of drug war violence.  After nearly a year and a half of traveling around Mexico, sharing stories and pain with thousands, and speaking truth to the Mexican government, Sicilia and the family members of nineteen other innocent drug war victims have crossed the border to the U.S.

They have come in the name of the 70,000 murdered and 15,000 disappeared since Mexico adopted a militarized approach to combating drug trafficking. They are here to address the nation that pushed the Mexican government to initiate the drug war; that both consumes and prohibits drugs, setting the conditions that have allowed drug cartels to thrive; that launders the profits of drug sales and extortions; that sells 90% of the firearms used by drug cartels in barely regulated markets; that through the Merida Initiative has spent billions on arming and training Mexico’s corrupt, often murderous military, rather than funding programs to alleviate the inequities at the root of much crime; and that has deported hundreds of thousands of Mexican citizens to dangerous border towns

I, an American citizen who has witnessed the hypocrisy of the War on Drugs on both sides of the border, have joined them on the bus.

I joined the Caravan for Peace in Los Angeles, my hometown and the Caravan’s second stop.  I had been looking forward to the event since I saw it announced, in April, in a Mexican newspaper.  I was living in Oaxaca at the time, working with the binational migrant workers’ rights law center Centro de los Derechos del Migrante (Center for Migrants’ Rights, or CDM), an organization that works in communities that experience a lot of migration.  It was the longest of several periods I had spent in Mexico since 2007, since the time that President Felipe Calderon first declared war on the drug cartels and that the U.S. committed to supporting it through the Merida Initiative.

Back in 2007, the drug war was barely on my radar, and my visit to Mexico gave me little reason to notice it.  By the time I returned in 2011, though, insecurity had reached such extremes that it was impossible to ignore.  I reflected on this change during the Caravan demonstration in Austin, Texas, where I ran into a former colleague from CDM.  We had worked together in 2008 in the city of Zacatecas, which was, at the time, relatively unaffected by drug war violence. This colleague left Zacatecas for Austin about a year ago, after months of seeing neighbors’ funeral notices, hearing about shoot-outs in the parks where her toddler liked to ride her tricycle, and encountering hooded men armed with machine guns and grenades on her way home from her second daughter’s birth.

Caravaneros line up to board the Caravan for Peace bus

By the spring of 2011, CDM’s main office had to relocate to Mexico City following a string of strange threats. Our security protocol became the central topic of most staff meetings, and we stopped working in many regions altogether.  Clients and colleagues alike suffered trauma.  Communities became suspicious of outsiders.  Like many human rights defenders working in Mexico, some of us began to wonder whether this conflict would make our work so difficult that we might be forced to shut down.

I am on the bus, then, not because of personal tragedy, but because of a commitment to social justice in both Mexico and the United States. I have seen that the drug war is not only destroying innocent lives at an astonishing pace, but also paralyzing movements and civil organizations that work for justice of every kind.  I am outraged by the ugly reality of policies carried out in my name, and so I believe that the caravaneros’ cause, as we move across my country, is also my own.

Those of us on the bus come from different backgrounds, and are here for a range of reasons.  Most have experienced the spike in violence in Mexico, and have come “to conquer injustice,” in one young man’s words, and to promote peace.  Many have lost children or brothers or husbands in the conflict, and have come to share their stories in the hopes that their histories will not be repeated.  Those whose loved ones have been “disappeared,” but perhaps not killed, harbor hopes of finding them.

The Movement for Peace with Justice has become a space of solidarity and hope for many who feel as one bereaved mother, who explained, “my heart dried up with my son, and in my pain I feel alone… but this movement made me feel less alone, as I met other mothers who had experienced the same thing.”  We hope to expand that space of solidarity to include compassionate U.S. citizens, whose government’s policies have planted the seeds that have led to this violence.  “To people in the United States, our pain feels far removed,” says a man whose brothers have disappeared.  But the anguish of realizing a sister has been tortured, or of receiving a nephew’s corpse, should translate beyond physical and cultural borders.  By sharing these personal stories of tragedy, the Caravan hopes to open serious discussions about U.S. policy.

Members of the Movement for Peace with Justice and
Dignity, including Javier Sicilia (right), give testimony at
one of the Caravan's stops

The buses, as well as the public events organized in city after city, are primarily places for storytelling, and the stories told make clear why these questions of policy are so urgent.  Rafael, who has joined the caravan with his mother and brother, tells me about the changes that unfolded in his community following Calderon’s first drug war campaign.  Rafael and his family live in a rural farming community in the state of Michoacán, where in 2006 Calderon attacked the Familia Michoacán cartel, capturing its leaders and removing its members from political posts.  It was as power dynamics between cartels began to shift in Michoacán, and as headless organizations broke down into warring factions, that violence in Michoacán was unleashed.  “The cartels started to terrorize the civilian population, so that people wouldn’t dare report them to the government,” his brother Carlos adds.  “They built fear as a protective barrier.” Four years later, four of Carlos and Rafael’s brothers, door-to-door metal salesmen, have disappeared.  During that time, the influx of assault weapons into Michoacán was so great the price dropped from around $2000, to $300.

To me, the most powerful event has been an evening vigil held a few days ago in Brownsville, Texas.  We stood in a circle with locals, candles shimmering in our hands, steps from the tall rusted fence that divides our two nations.  After a moment of silence and a few speeches on politics, Margarita, a warm woman I knew by smile and her tendency to call all of us “Beautiful!,” began to describe the struggle that had brought her to the caravan.  Her daughter, the wife of an officer in the Mexican military, disappeared in Oaxaca over a year ago.  Margarita had gone from authority to authority, from the government to the military to private investigators, encountering wall after impenetrable bureaucratic wall.  After months of searching and confronting criminal organizations, she was finally presented with a decapitated, decomposing body.  She was told that it belonged to her daughter, a fact that DNA testing initially confirmed.  Later, presented with a head, she requested more DNA testing—which resulted inconclusive, positive one time, negative the next.  She was provided with gory details of her daughter’s last days.  “She was raped every day!” she screamed, her voice ripping.  “She was shown the bodies decomposing in the mass grave where she was soon going to be thrown!  They told me of her pleas, how she begged them ‘please, please don’t kill me.’” To this day, Margarita cannot be sure where her daughter’s body was laid to rest.  “But I will keep fighting, even if it kills me!” she finished.  Behind her, a crowd of mothers held her, shaking, faces shining with tears and rage.

The horror of these stories is difficult to absorb, and they are the stories of many tens of thousands of Mexicans—and, I’m learning, a stunning number of U.S. citizens and residents, who have come to tell stories of pain that echo those of the caravaneros.  My seatmate on the bus, for example, is a U.S. citizen born in Mexico.  Her brother, also a U.S. citizen, was a truck driver for a large American company.  He disappeared about a year ago while driving a truck across the border.  She often babysits her brother’s U.S.-born son, and has found that eleven-year-old boy cannot sleep. “I’m afraid,” he tells her. Locals at our many stops come to tell of family members assassinated following deportation, of painful decisions to seek asylum in the U.S., of being limited to choosing between drug violence in Mexico and anti-immigrant violence in the U.S.  Even those with no ties to Mexico have found common ground with the movement, drawing connections to the scourge of mass incarceration in the black community, and with the lack of funding for treating addiction.  Many kinds of pain are bringing people together.

That the United States has had a part in creating the conditions for so much inhumanity troubles me deeply.  Some of our challengers on this side of the border say that because the U.S. has provided Mexico with military aid, that we have done our part, and that we should just throw up our hands. But story after story suggests that militarization has only escalated the horror, and if we are sincere in our wish to halt horrific human rights violations, we must demand a fundamental shift in our drug and foreign policies.

In quieter moments, the Caravan is deeply spiritual, drawing on Catholic and Aztec and Buddhist rituals, on poetry and folk songs. Sicilia has insisted that victims’ pain not lead them to hate, and discussions of love for our American hosts are frequent.  A few days ago, as our hosts in New Mexico closed a ceremony, they said a prayer I wish my whole country could have witnessed.  An older woman, dressed in traditional clothes, raised her arms in the air and shouted, “To everyone who is rotting Mexico, including politicians on both sides of the border, may their conscience awaken.  Let’s send them love!”  The crowd flung its arms towards the sky.

On Monday morning we left Texas for Mississippi.   As we crossed the Texas border, one of my bus mates commented that this would be our true departure from what is both historically and culturally Mexican territory.  The further we go from Mexico, the more we will need your support.

We need the support of every person of conscience, around the world and especially in the United States.   If you can, join us at an event in a city near you. Join us in Washington, DC on September 12th, and invite five of your friends.  We need everyone to be there.

If you want to learn about these issues from those most affected by them, join Witness for Peace in Mexico City this September 22nd through the 30th for its first ever Drug War delegation! I participated in a Witness for Peace delegation to Mexico last year, and couldn't recommend it more highly. For more information go to www.witnessforpeace.org

Labor Action Plan Monitoring Report

This is a Labor Action Plan Monitoring report done by Witness for Peace delegates and International Team this past July. It includes the on-the-ground labor reality for Colombian workers now that the Free Trade Agreement between Colombia and the U.S. has been implemented. The report includes specific recommendations and case studies  for U.S. officials, policymakers and civil society to track where labor law is not complied with and bring about effective change set out by U.S. and Colombian labor accords.

Labor Reality in Colombia

Continued Violations of the Colombian Action Plan Related to Labor Rights:

Witness For Peace July 2012 Delegation Report

August 1, 2012

Introduction:

The purpose of this report is to convey the findings and recommendations of the Witness for Peace delegation that conducted an independent investigation of labor rights in Colombia from July 20-30, 2012. Our ten-person delegation was comprised of two full-time Witness for Peace staff living in Colombia and eight delegates from the United States including trade unionists, educators, activists, and NGO workers. This delegation specifically aimed to assess the implementation of the Labor Action Plan now that the U.S. – Colombia Free Trade Agreement is in effect. Through meeting with affected groups and advocacy organizations, we found multiple and egregious violations of the plan in the areas of Cooperatives, Collective Pacts, and Violence and Impunity, as well as a lack of response to the troubling consequences of the FTA for women in Colombia. As the United States is now complicit in these labor rights violations, we ask that the U.S. Embassy do everything in its power to act on this information to remedy the continued violations of the Labor Action Plan.

I. Cooperatives

The Colombian Action Plan Related to Labor Rights intended to prohibit the misuse of subcontracting by cooperatives and temporary service agencies. Witness for Peace July 2012 delegation has found that they have been replaced by new and just as prevalent forms of intermediary employment and third party contracting. The Labor Action Plan identifies the port sector as a priority. Buenaventura illustrates the egregious labor violations of this plan. Our visit to the port provided clear examples of noncompliance with the Labor Action Plan through a variety of methods:

New forms of subcontracting

A Simplified Stock Association (SAS) is a new form of subcontracting agency that has replaced cooperatives. The port of Buenaventura and Sociedad Portuaria is especially dramatic in this regard with over 700 intermediary companies such as Simplified Stock Associations.

·        Compania Servicios Portuario Esapecializada (CSPE) is one of many SAS operated by the pro-managerial union Sintramaritimo. More and more of these “unions” are adopting subcontracting mechanisms as a means of skirting around the cooperatives. CSPE is an important example that limits workers’ rights by preventing direct contracts with corporate employers which would provide direct accountability and stability. Workers employed through CSPE have been denied their legitimate benefits and job security through their employment by a third party contractor.

·        The cooperative Coowinpropa reinvented itself as a SAS named Artica. Then it transformed itself once more into another SAS called Ecpe. However, the owner remained the same in all three forms. This not only prevented direct contracts, but it also imposed temporary employment.

Conditions on Direct Contracts

The most common demand by port workers is a direct contract relationship with the corporations.

·        Often direct contracts place conditions on workers; most commonly workers are forced to agree to not join or to withdraw from the Union Portuaria (otherwise known as a “yellow dog contract”). TECSA, in addition to employing workers through intermediaries, enforced the condition that workers not be represented by the Union Portuaria in its direct contracts with workers. Intermodal S.A.S. required that workers not be represented by the Union Portuaria and demanded that workers withdraw their complaints from the Labor Ministry. Prodeco offered workers direct contracts only if they withdrew from the union and kept their contracts secret.

Expansion of Precarious Work

According to the Labor Action Plan, temporary work arrangements are not to be used to undermine labor rights.

Workers with Intermodal S.A.S. report that even when they receive a direct contract, the duration rarely exceeds 4-6 months. These short term contracts enable a high turnover of workforce and maintain low wages, poor working conditions, meager benefits and the inability to accumulate seniority.  

The Labor Action Plan requires direct contracts and steady work for “permanent core functions.”  However, workers report that the short contracts and new intermediaries are eroding job security even in areas of core function of the port.

Proliferation of Competing Unions

The creation of competing unions undermines workers’ collective bargaining rights. Many of these unions have only a small number of members and receive preferential treatment from companies. In Buenaventura, for example, Sintramaritimo, is described by workers as a “sindicato patronal,” because it collaborates with the company to undermine negotiations. It also received resources from the mayor’s office for rent in the amount of 1,500,000 pesos.

Non-compliance

As pointed out by the previous Witness for Peace delegation in February, there is an ongoing problem with inspections.

Even though the Colombian government complied with the hiring of additional inspectors, they are not trained adequately to identify these new forms of subcontracting.  When fines are imposed they are inadequate in amount (a 56 million peso limit), they can be appealed interminably, and they do not deter corporations from repeat violations.  For large multinationals the fines are not a deterrent and for smaller companies it justifies bankruptcy and leads to reincorporation without improvement of labor conditions for workers.

In fact, of the 91 fines imposed, no fines nor any criminal sanction for anti-union violence have been carried out.  (See the list of imposed fines attached.)

Under Section III Part B, the “strategy of offering to waive fines wholly or in part when the employer agrees to create and maintain a direct employment relationship” allows the companies to get away with their violations.

In requests for clarification of Decree 2025, the Labor Ministry has exempted the very forms of labor outsourcing that are meant to be prevented by the Labor Action Plan.

Additional Concerns

We have serious additional concerns about the labor and human rights conditions at the port and in Buenaventura:

·        Ongoing death threats against union leaders

·        Blatant racism by employers of Afro-Colombian workers

·        Lack of social investment by the port companies in the community

·        The increase in sexual violence against women and child prostitution

Recommendations

·        Advocate for broader language and clearer interpretation of labor law to include all forms of third party subcontracting and outsourcing 

·        Train more labor inspectors to ensure frequency of inspection, monitoring, and follow-up

·        Promote compliance through the application of fines and criminal penalties since no fines nor any criminal sanction for anti union violence have been carried out.

·        Secure the increase in direct employment relationships without conditions that undermine “the right to organize and bargain collectively”

·        Protect threatened unionists and issue an immediate embassy denunciation of any act of violence against workers

II.  Collective Pacts

Another key issue undermining freedom of association in Colombia is the continued use of collective pacts and the lack of enforcement to prevent such pacts.

As you are aware, Section V of the Labor Action Plan provides for reforming the Criminal Code of Colombia to criminalize collective pacts that are used to undermine the right to organize. In addition, the Labor Action Plan says that the Ministry of Social Protections, now the Labor Ministry, “will implement a robust enforcement regime . . . to detect and prosecute violations.” Unfortunately, these provisions of the Labor Action Plan on collective pacts are not being fulfilled.

In collective pacts, workers are offered short-term benefits and improved working conditions in exchange for renouncing their right to join an independent labor union, effectively removing their right to organize and allowing the company to dictate all conditions of employment. Without an independent labor union to represent workers’ interests, workers cannot effectively defend their rights and enjoy full protections of the labor code.

General Motors Colombia is one company that continues to use collective pacts to the detriment of labor rights. Since 2003, GM Colombia has signed a collective pact with workers every two years, with the last one signed in January of 2012. At the signing this year, GM workers were incentivized with money to sign the pact, which explicitly prohibits them from joining an independent union. Workers were told that their continued employment was dependent on signing the pact, so in fact they had no choice but to accept the imposed conditions. The individuals who ostensibly represented the workers were not elected and instead were appointed by GM management.

The lack of independent labor representation for GM workers has exacerbated conflicts between workers and management and left many workers subject to illegal firings. For example, workers have documented systemic patterns of illegal terminations due to workplace injuries, including debilitating conditions requiring major surgery that limit mobility and employment options for workers. Company practices included the sharing of medical records from the company clinic doctors with management, who then fired workers based on this confidential information.

Both General Motors Colombia and the Ministry of Labor were complicit in the illegal firing of injured workers. In the last year, worker complaints prompted the Labor Ministry and the Procuraduría to investigate these firings and concluded that GM had violated labor law. In a follow-up investigation, workers’ medical records disappeared from company files, and the Procuraduría was not present as required by law.  Moreover, the labor inspector who signed off on the firings, as well as the GM lawyer, have been sanctioned by the Attorney General for their illegal actions.

These illegal firings led to the formation in May 2011 of the Association of Injured Workers and Ex-Workers of General Motors Colombia (ASOTRECOL). The founder of this organization, Jorge Parra, was fired two months later in retaliation for exercising his right to freedom of association. Without effective union representation, these workers have taken their grievances to the public by protesting in front of the U.S. Embassy. These workers are seeking reinstatement to jobs appropriate to their physical abilities; the right to form a labor union; and pensions for those workers too ill to resume employment based on their workplace injuries.

The continued existence of collective pacts and the systemic failure to prosecute labor violations indicates that the Labor Action Plan has not been implemented in full as required by U.S. Congress with the passage of the Colombian Free Trade Agreement. As concerned U.S. citizens who are closely monitoring the labor and human situation in Colombia, we request the U.S. Embassy to take the following actions:

§      Investigate the collective pact signed by General Motors with its workers that undermines their rights to organize

§      Press the Colombian government to prosecute those illegal actions under the new criminal code implemented as part of the Labor Action Plan

§      Resume discussions with ASOTRECOL and assist in the resolution of the labor conflict between GM and these illegally fired workers by advocating for the reinstatement of these workers, pensions for those with disabilities that prevent their employment, and the formation of an independent labor union

§      Work with the Colombian government to ensure the “robust enforcement” required by the Labor Action Plan Section V is carried out

III.  Violence Against Trade Unionists, Impunity for Offenders

            Colombia is known for having the highest rate of violence against trade union members and labor activists. While we believe that the initiatives included in the Labor Action Plan, such as broadening the definition of who is covered in the Colombian government’s protection program and the implementation of criminal justice reforms are a step in the right direction, we are still extremely concerned with the levels of impunity, violence and threats within the labor sector. In spite of the intended additions of 95 judicial police investigators and 480 new labor inspectors, there are abundant cases of union-related violence, threats, and other forms of intimidation towards union leaders.

            Even after both the Colombian and United States governments signed the Labor Action Plan in April 2011, labor leaders have been victims of over 500 death threats and 29 assassinations. One such case is that of Daniel Aguirre, the Secretary General and founder of SINALCORTEROS. Mr. Aguirre was assassinated on April 27, 2012 and to this date no justice has been served. Immediate action is necessary to solve this case and bring justice to the perpetrators since Mr. Aguirre is the first union leader to be killed since President Obama declared implementation of the free trade agreement.

            Other assassinations this year include that of Mauricio Redondo of USO, who was killed along with his wife on January 17 in Puerto Asis, Putumayo, and Alexander Gonzales Blandon of SINTRAENTEDDIMCCOL who was murdered on January 19, 2012 in Bugalagrande, Valle del Cauca. In 2011, the death of SINALTRAINAL member John Fredy Carmona, whose body was discovered on December 9 in Medellin, and the paramilitary attack of SINALTRAINAL Executive Committee Member Juan Carlos Galvis on November 9 have not been sufficiently investigated.

            We are concerned that these deaths will only be further additions to the backlog of cases that have perpetuated impunity in Colombian society. Such cases include Luciano Romero of SINALTRAINAL, who was stabbed to death in 2005. In fact, in SINALTRAINAL’s thirty years of existence, 24 union members have been killed, 2 disappeared, 14 imprisoned, 80 death threats received, 49 forcibly displaced, 6 exiled, and several attacked. These acts of violence against unionists are met with widespread impunity: of the 2,886 trade unionists murdered since 1986 less than 10 percent have led to a conviction. The impunity rate remains intolerable even for violence that has occurred after the passage of the Labor Action Plan.

            The continued persecution of trade unionists and labor activists is further amplified considering the fact that only 3.9% of the Colombian workforce is unionized. Death threats are another method used by re-armed paramilitary units, who in some cases cooperate with multinationals, to inculcate fear among union leaders and labor activists. The very same week that the FTA went into effect, the following labor union leaders and their families’ received death threats:

·        Jhon Jairo Castro of Union Portuaria (Port Workers’ Union)

·        Johnnson Torres Ortis of SINALCORTEROS

·        Rene Morales Silva of SINTRAINAGRO

This year, leaders of SINTRAEMCALI were threatened by the paramilitary group the Black Eagles. SINTRAINAGRO has received 13 death threats and union member Henry Diaz was disappeared.  

            Given the alarming rates of persistent threats and acts of violence, we have noticed that the implementations of the protection programs and judicial reforms delineated in the Labor Action Plan have not been achieved.  It is imperative that the Colombian government, with the support of the United States, ensures their compliance with the specific programs and initiatives outlined in the Labor Action Plan.

IV.  The Omission of Women's Voices in the US-Colombia Free Trade Agreement

The concerns of Colombian women were not taken into consideration with the development and passage of the FTA, either through a government study or listening to the case of the women's movement.  Without the inclusion of specific protections for women, the FTA cannot stand as a just document.  The obligation to reduce discrimination against women is present in the Colombian Constitution as well as various international humanitarian agreements, but is absent from the FTA.  Discrimination based on gender is rampant in Colombia, and has worsened during the past five years of free trade negotiation.  According to a 2007 NGO report, the salary gap between men and women holding the same position was 14.28%.  According to the women's division of the Central Unitario de Trabajadores (CUT), the rate has doubled to 28.9% today.  Additionally, the increased economic inequality and instability caused by the FTA forces more people (especially women) to work in the precarious informal sector, without healthcare, contracts, or protection from the Labor Action Plan.

The major concerns held by women of the Sabana of Bogota during their First Popular Women's Assembly surrounded threats to the environment and the local economy. The government does not monitor the flower industry's water or soil pollution, or hold companies responsible for these negative externalities.  The displacement of food crops for monoculture and flower production has decreased agricultural job opportunities, and created precarious employment where wages are suddenly lowered or hours reduced.  Despite being hailed as one of the most unionized industries in Colombia, due to the prevalence of sindicatos patronales which are headed by the company,  the union Untraflores is alone in truly seeking to protect workers’ rights.   Furthermore, cheap agricultural imports have destroyed women's capacity to compete with their own micro-economic agricultural enterprises. 

The women most disproportionately affected by the FTA are indigenous and Afro-Colombian, as well as poor campesina women in rural areas, because of displacement by armed groups or multinational economic interests. Colombia has the highest rate of displacement in the world, and many indigenous communities are on the verge of extinction.  According to a leading indigenous organization in Cauca, more than 6,000 people have been displaced in their region this year alone.  Community leaders are concerned that this generation of children has only known violence, and child recruitment continues to be a serious problem. The ethnic rights of indigenous and Afro-Colombian communities protected by the International Labor Organization (ILO) decrees were ignored by the parties who approved the FTA without consulting either community.  

Signed:

Mary Bellman

Bethany Carson

Amanda Ciafone

Kate Dillon

Jessica Hayssen

Omar Martinez

Ruth Needleman`

Robert Winslow

Carlos Cruz, Witness For Peace International Team

Jessica Weinstein, Witness for Peace International Team